A Dangerous Distraction

"When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled," goes the old proverb. It might have been coined for China and Japan. The rekindled tension over clashing versions of their shared history now threatens the resolution of the most pressing security dilemma in North Asia: the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program.

The tension between China and Japan comes at a time when the situation on the Korean peninsula is deteriorating and the need for multilateral diplomacy is mounting. North Korea has already declared itself a nuclear power, one that is entitled to formal disarmament talks like any other nation...